Ringmer Community College and Sixth Form

Ringmer Community College and Sixth Form

Motto	Achieving, Caring and Contributing
Established	1958
Type	Academy
Headteacher	Ms Kathryn Stonier
Chair of Governors	Ms Kathy Fordham
Specialism	Technology College
Location	Lewes Road Lewes East Sussex BN8 5RB England
Local authority	East Sussex
DfE URN	114593
Ofsted	Reports
Students	920
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–19
Houses	Arundel, Bodiam, Lewes and Pevensey
Website	Website

Ringmer Community College and Sixth Form is an academy school located in the village of Ringmer in East Sussex. It was opened in 1958 and serves a catchment area of Lewes and surrounding towns.

The current Headteacher is Ms Kathy Stonier who has been Head Mistress since 2002.

History of the School

Ringmer Secondary School opened in 1958, serving the local area and surrounding towns and villages.

Ringmer County Secondary School gained recognition for its work with the community, including evening classes for adults. The school also had recognition for the high expectations and the excellence of the brass band, who still meet at reunions. The Band travelled across Europe, with their conductor Michael Fairhurst, the original conductor for the band. He continued working at the school for many years after and ran the junior windband on a Tuesday morning and the string quartet.

The original school building received a Civic Trust Award for its design, which has changed throughout the years to meet the changing needs of the school. The Library was built in 1973 as the numbers of students increased from 300 to the current 920, as a result of the school leaving age being raised to 16.

The Secondary school became a Community College when the former Prime Minister - Lord Callaghan formally opened the school.

The original school building consisted of:

• The Clark Block, housing the Drama Studio, English and Technology departments.
• The swimming pool - built in 1981.
• The Music department, which had to be extended housing studio and recording rooms.
• The major building phase in 1988 improved Humanities and Science facilities, within a two-story building. Which were improved again in 2000 with the Specialist Technology College status.

Channel Five news reader, Natasha Kaplinsky (born 1972), attended the school for a short time before moving to Varndean College in Brighton. Kaplinsky was bullied at the school for a time and as a result has bad memories of her time there, she has since declined offers to return to the college.

Nick Morgan-Jones, inventor of the clipboard and recovering crystal meth addict, also attended the community college. He is remembered fondly by many members of staff, mainly for his strong participation in extra-curricular activities, notably the chess club and brass band. Nick is also credited with finding the immensely popular Runescape society, which led to him receiving a small cult following.

In 2006 the John Wakely Building was built, which housed Modern Foreign Languages until 2008 when the department moved over to the Clarke Building, resulting in the English department moving into the Wakely building. The building was named after the former Headmaster John Wakely (1983–1998).

In 2008 the school re-branded with a new logo, and from September 2008 the college name was changed to 'Ringmer Community College and Sixth Form' as a new sixth form had been built.

On 1 August 2011, the school officially gained academy status.

Pastoral system

Ringmer Community College has a strong pastoral system that was introduced in 2006.

Houses

Ringmer Community College has four houses, which students are automatically put into a house prior to joining the school. The four houses are:

House	House Leader	Colour
Arundel	Mr Philip Dean	Green
Bodiam	Mr Peter Pretorius	Purple
Lewes	Mrs Susan Lockyer	Yellow
Pevensey	Mrs Tracy DiPaolo	Blue

Previous House Leaders:

• Bodiam - Mrs Jacqui Bowden (2006–2007)

Senior Students

The Senior Students support the House Leaders within the college, assisting with the enforcement of rules, mentoring younger students, sitting on the Student Council, as well as playing an active role in the wider community. The role of Head of Year 7 was introduced in 2008, after a successful trial by having the Senior Students for 2007/08 based with the Year 7's on a rota. The role mainly consists of helping the Year 7's transition from primary school to secondary school and to help them settle into college life.

The various roles are:

• Head Boy and Girl of College - they oversee the other Senior Students and act as Chair of the School Council
• Head Boy and Girl of House - they assist the Head of House with duties and generally support their House within the pastoral system
• Head Boy and Girl of Hospitality - they show guests to the College around and organise tours, as well as introduce the Year 7's to the college
• Head Boy and Girl of Year 7 - they offer support to the Year 7's

Two former Senior Students have received the Diana Award during their time in the role.

Sixth form

The Sixth Form Centre offers students a variety of different subjects to study at A Level, AS Level as well as Diplomas and vocational courses. The block was built by Mansells, who have previously built at the school. The building of the new Sixth Form exhibits a new dance studio, a new design and technology workshop, new music facilities, including a recording studio and also new sports pitches.

The Sixth Form opened for lessons on 22 September 2008, and held its official opening on 30 September 2008. It was opened by two of the Sixth Form students.

Awards and recognition

Ringmer Community College has received many awards, and received much recognition from local government and media bodies.

• Technology Colleges,
• Eco-Schools,
• Investor In People,
• Arts Mark - Gold,
• Vocational,
• Winner - South East Renewable Energy Awards 2006,
• Healthy Schools - East Sussex,
• Gold Princess Diana Award
• Ashden Award for sustainable energy

In 2008 the colleges continued efforts to improving the environment were highlighted when Southern FM (now known as Heart Sussex), interviewed students and staff regarding the several energy saving features they had introduced.

References

• Ringmer Community College - History of the School [1]

External links

• Ringmer Community College
• Ringmer Community College - Sixth Form